Traction-vehicle.



PATENTED JUNE 14, 1904.

J. s. WALKER. TRACTION VEHICLE. I

APPLICATION FILED D30 18 1903 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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PATENTED JUNE 14, 1904.

r J. s. WALKER.

TRACTION VEHIOLE.

APPLIUATION FILED DEC. 16. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

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J. s. WALKER. TRACTION VEHICLE. APPL I OATIOH FILED D30. 16. 1903.

. N0 MODEL.

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No. 762,781. PATENTED JUNE 14, 1904.

r Y L s. WALKER.

TRACTION VEHICLE.

APPLIOATION IILBD DBO. 16. 1903.

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PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES S. WALKER, OF ANDERSON, CALIFORNIA.

TRACTION-VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 762,781, dated June 14, 1904. Application filed December16,190 3- Serial No. 185,415. (No model.)

T0 (1, whom it'may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES SWALKER, aciti- Zen of the United States, residing at Anderson, in the county of Shasta and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Traction-Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a traction device or self-propelling vehicle adapted for use in drawing machinery or other purposes; and

the primary object of the same is to provide a device of this class which can be readily propelled over roads regardless of hills, rocks, mud, sand, ice, or snow without material retardation and also capable of being sensitively directed by embodying therein -readilyoperated turning means. The improved machine has been particularly devised as a motor for agricultural machinery and will be equipped with such mechanism as to adapt it for this purpose. In order to facilitate movement of the machine over roads having obstructions or retarding means, it is provided with endless tracks so arranged and operating in connection with front and rear pairs of wheels at opposite sides that a portion of said wheels may be adjusted to facilitate turning the machine or causing it to travel in curved lines without the least interference with the operation of the endless tracks operating in connection with the remaining wheels of the front and rear sets of the latter.

The invention also consists in the construction and arrangement of the several parts, which will be more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a traction machine or engine embodying the features of the invention. gitudinal vertical section therethrough. Fig. 3 is a top plan viewof'the same. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a portion of the track engagingand operating means, showing the track in section. Fig. 6is an edge elevation of one of the wheels of the front sets of the latter, showing the endless track in section in operative relation thereto and the means for preventing said track from shifting laterally on the wheel.

Similar numerals of reference are employed Fig. 2is a 1on to indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

The numeral 1 designates a bed, which may be of any suitable material and of such di-- gine will be used and provided with a drivepulley 3. The engine is situated in the center of the front extremity of the bed, and in rear thereof is a drive-shaft 4:, extending transversely across the bed at a suitable elevation and held in bearings 5, located at the opposite edges of said bed. The shaft 4: has a band wheel or pulley 6 thereon, which is surrounded by a belt 7 engaging the drive pulley or wheel 3 of the engine, and the ends of the shafts are extended outwardly beyond the opposite side edges of the bed, and each end has a driving-drum 8 secured thereon, as

shown by Fig. 5, and comprising opposite heads 9 and a central partition or separatingdisk 10, the inner opposing faces of the heads and the opposite sides of the disk 10 having link-sockets 11 of suitable form constructed therein to receive the links of companion chain belts 12 and 13 of acontinuous track 14:. Similar tracks 14 are used on opposite sides of the machine and engage opposite sets of wheels 15, each comprising a rear wheel 16, rotatable on an axle 17, fixed in depending hangers 18, secured to the bed 1, and a movable wheel 19, rotatable on a vertically-disposed axle 20, disposed in depending yokes 21, also secured to the bed. The axle 201s engaged at the center by an adjusting-clip 22, to the upper portion of which a link 23 is movably attached at its lower end and pivotally connected at its upper end to the lower member of an elbow-lever 24, movable, in a slot 25 in the center of the bed and having its upper member projected forwardly and terminally attached to the front end of an adjusting-link 26, which projects rearwardly and is movably connected to the lower ex- Lil tremity of a shifting-lever 27, having a dog 28. cooperating with a toothed connector 29, rising from the bed. The lever 24 is fulcrumed in the slot 25, and the forwardly-projecting longer member thereof has the upper end of a link 30 movably attached thereto and secured at its lower end to a combined adjusting and wear plate 31, movably held against the bottom of the bed at the forward extremity of the slot and of such length and width as to practically compensate for the arcuate movement of an antifrictional device bearing thereon and which will be more fully hereinafter explained.

Rising from the rear part of the bed 1 are standards 32, which are disposed intransverse alinement and have the opposite ends of a winding rod or spindle 33 held therein. The opposite ends of this winding rod or spindle 33 have the rear terminals of steering-chains or analogous flexible devices 34 secured thereto and adapted to be wound on and unwound from the said spindle, one of the said chains winding on the spindle at the same time that the other unwinds therefrom, and must therefore be connected to opposite diametrical portions of the said spindle. Secured to the center of the spindle 33 is a worm-wheel 35, and held in continual mesh therewith is a longitudinally-disposed worm 36, carried by a worm-shaft 37, held in longitudinally-alined uprights 38 and provided with a rear operating-crank 39. By actuating the worm 36 the worm-wheel 35 will be actuated to move the shaft 33 in a direction corresponding to the direction of rotation of said worm-wheel. At a suitable distance in advance of the spindlea pair of transversely-alined uprights 40 rise from the bed and have guidepulleys 41 in their upper ends, over which the chains 34 have free movement, the said chains depending through diagonal slots 42 in the bed in advance of the uprights 41 and around the outer portions of diagonally-disposed guidepulleys 43, suspended from the under side of the bed. From the pulleys 43 the steeringchains 34 converge toward the rear elevated extremity of a steering bar or pole 44, the said chains being securely fastened to the end of the bar or pole. On this bar or pole, in advance of the rear end thereof, is'a bearing or antifrictional wheel 45, which is held in continual contact with the plate 31, and when the bar. or pole 44 is moved in opposite lateral directions by the chains the Wheel or roller 45 is shifted toward opposite ends of the plate. The bar or rod 44 is longitudinally disposed under the center of the bed and is connected by what may be termed hounds 46 to the rear end of a frame 47, forming part of a front truck 48. The frame 47 has dependent clips 49, embracing axles 50, on which are rotated front and rear pairs of wheels 51, and surrounding and held inseparably on the said wheels is an endless track 52, similar in all respects to the track 14. The track 52 does not have any propelling means, such means being unnecessary in this instance by reason of the fact that the rear pairs of wheels 16 and 19 serve as driving-wheels. The front track 52 therefore simply elevates the forward extremity of the machine equally with the rear part of the latter and supplies means for permitting the front truck to overcome obstacles or obstructions in a road. The front track 52 has motion imparted thereto by the forward propulsion instituted by the rear track 14, and when the word track is used, as just noted, it will be understood that only one of each pair of similar tracks is described for the purpose of brevity and to avoid confusion. The front truck 48 is adjustable, as will be understood, for steering purposes or in directing the course of the machine, and the rear part of the truck has a central coupling member 53 rising therefrom, constructed to pivotally embrace the lower reduced extremity of a depending coupling-head 54 to form a pivotal connection, whereby the front truck as an entirety may be rocked or adjusted by depressing the bar or pole 44 to elevate the front pair of wheels 51. The depending head 54 has a fulcrum-stud 55 projecting upwardly therefrom and rotatably extending into a socket 56 in a fulcrum beam or bolster 57 extending transversely across the forward extremity of the frame and fitted in a recess 58 in the under side of said frame. Through the medium of this fulcrumstud the front truck may be swung laterally in opposite directions through the operation of the chains 34. When the truck is in normal position, the front end thereof, carrying the front pair of wheels, is disconnected from the bed; but to reduce the wear on the bed the front extremity of the frame 47 hasa cen* tral bearing or antifrictional roller 59, which is adapted to Contact with a transversely=dis posed wear-beam 60, secured against the under side of the front end of the bed. The bearing or antifrictional roller 59 moves over the under side of the beam 60 in opposite directions when the front truck is laterally adjusted for steering purposes.

The tracks 14 and 52 are held in engagement with the wheels by similar means, and each is of a like construction and comprises a series of sections 61, of suitable material, having pairs of transversely-alined staples 62 projecting inwardly therefrom and connected to the links of the chain belts 12 and 13. These staples are spaced far enough apart to move in close relation to the opposite sides of the wheel-frames, and by this means the tracks are prevented from slipping off the Wheels, To accommodate the staples 61, the drums 11 will have central slots deep enough to allow said staples to ride thercover, as clearly shown by Fig. 5.

From .the foregoing description the opera:

tion will be obvious. When motionis imparted to the shaft 4, the chain belts 12 and 13 will be set in motion to propel the machine, and it will be understood that a reversal of the engine will cause the endless tracks to correspondingly move in an opposite direction, so that the machine as an entirety may be backed forthe purpose of conveniently coupling the same to devices which are adapted to be drawn thereby or to properly dispose the machine within an inclosure or to otherwise manipulate the same. When the machine is intended to run straight either in a forward or rearward direction, the front truck is held down in the position shown by Fig. 2. If a turn is to be made, the shifting-lever 27 is moved forwardly, thereby drawing upwardly on the axle 20 and forcing downwardly on the plate 31. This will elevate the wheels 19, connected to the axle 20, and the front wheels of the truck. The steering-chains will then be operated by rotating the spindle 33 in a proper direction,

and the truck-frame 47 will be shifted on the fulcrum-stud 55 to turn the truck at a proper angle relatively to the direction in which it is desired that the machine be moved. By elevating the front wheels of the truck and the front wheels'19 the forward portions of the tracks 14 and 52 will be raised from the groundsurface to facilitate the steering movement by decreasing the friction. After the machine has been properly turned the parts will be restored to normal position by reversing the operation of the mechanisms just explained.

The improved machine will be found exceptionally advantageous for the purpose for which it has been devised and will be as effective as the complex traction-engine structures now in use, with a material reduction in the cost of manufacture. In some instances it may be desired to provide the outer surfaces of the sections of the endless track with traction-ribs. This would be an obvious addition, though it is not actually necessary to render the machine practical.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. In a machine of the class set forth, the combination of a bed having rear pairs of wheels, one set of wheels being vertically movable, a front truck having both a rocking and pivotal adjustment, endless tracks engaging the rear and front wheels, and means for operating the several parts.

2. In a machine of the class set forth, the combination of a bed having pairs of wheels on opposite sides of the rear portion thereof, the forward wheels being vertically adjustable, a front truck having opposite pairs of wheels and connected to be capable of both a rocking and a lateral pivotal movement, endtaneously adjusting the front pair of rear wheels and the truck.

3. In a machine of the class set forth, the

combination of a bed, pairs of rear wheels at opposite sides thereof, the front wheels of said pairs being vertically movable in relation to the bed, a front truck having a vertical and a lateral adjustment, endless tracks engaging the rear pairs of wheels and the truck-wheels, and means for operating the tracks engaging the rear pairs of wheels.

4:. In a machine of the class set forth, the combination of a bed having front and rear wheels, a part of the rear wheels being Vertitically movable and the front wheels vertically adjustable and laterally'shiftable, endless tracks engaging the rear and front wheels, means for operating the rear tracks, and mechanism for simultaneously adjusting the front wheels of the rear pairs and the truck-wheels.

5. In a machine of the class set forth, the

combination of a bed having pairs of front and rear wheels, the front wheels of the pairs of wheels being adjustable vertically, endless tracks engaging the wheels, and means for elevating the said adjustable wheels to disengage portions of the track from the ground-surface over which the machine moves.

6. In a machine of the class set forth, the combination of a bed, pairs of frontand rear similar wheels disposed on opposite sides of the bed, the front wheels of the said pairs of wheels being vertically adjustable and the front pairs of wheels also laterally'shiftable in opposite directions, and endless tracks engaging the said pairs of wheels.

7. In a machine of the class set forth, the

combination of a bed having pairs of similar wheels arranged at opposite sides at the front and rear, the front wheels of both pairs of wheels being vertically adjustable and the front pairs of wheels being also laterally shiftable, and independent endless tracks surrounding the front and rear pairs of wheels.

8. In a machine of the class set forth, the combination of a bed having wheels on opposite sides thereof, a portion of the wheels being vertically movable and laterally shiftable, mechanism for simultaneously adjusting the wheels, means for shifting a part of the wheels in opposite lateral directions, and endless tracks engaging all of the wheels.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of'two witnesses.

JAMES S. WALKER.

Witnesses:

D. Z. HAWKINS, CARL MUNTER. 

